Young Adult Daughters' Relationships With Their Fathers: Review of Recent Research

Abstract

The young adult years raise a number of intriguing questions about the relationship between fathers and daughters. How does the quality of their relationship throughout childhood manifest itself during a daughter's college years? In what specific ways is the “well-fathered” daughter advantaged compared with daughters who had troubled or distant relationships with their fathers? What aspects of the daughter's college and early adult life are generally more influenced by her relationship with her father than by her relationship with her mother? This review of recent research provides intriguing and occasionally surprising answers to these questions about young adult daughters and their fathers.

KEYWORDS:

• father–daughter
• father–daughter relationships
• fathers
• fathers and young adult daughters